Noncrushable lunch-box pie container



Oct. 10, 1950 E. M.BRooKs ETAL NONCRUSHABLE LUNCH-BOX PIE CONTAINERFiled June 9, 194s I I u mi ,DQA M45 EQoo/zs, Wem/em A. r/FFQ/Es,

IN V EN TORS.

Patented Oct. 10, 1950 UNITED NONCEUSHABLE LUNCH-Box PIE i CONTAINEREdra Mae Brooks and Victoria A. Jelfries, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application J une 9', 1948, Serial No. 31,906

1 Claim.v (Cl. 20E-4) Generally speaking', this invention relates to animproved foodncontainer intended for use in a lunch kit. Moreparticularly, it relates to a relatively'rigid container of virtuallysector shape in plan view and adapted t'o contain one or moresector-shaped cuts of cake or. pieand to protect same from being crushedby other objects within a lunch kit by reason of the rigidity of thecontainer and to-also forma sealedenclo'sure around the .cake or piecuts contained therein, thus preventingthe escape ofY any of thecontents, such as, for example, in the caseof berry pie juice.

Lunch and picnic boxes of various types-are quite commonly'v 4used for.carrying lunches,

snacl:scoldmeals7 and the like. Usually', alunch Will containsandwiches,fruit, a hot or cold drink' and a dessert of some type, which-often isacut of pie or cake. No provision ismade in prior art lunch boxes forprotectingravcut of pie or cake and it is usually protected. only bywrapping in a piece of waxed or oiled papenor the'- like, prior toplacing same in` the lunch box, This type' of protection isA of someeiectiveness int-hat it generally prevents thev escape of` liquid from apie cut for example. 'However, -it is undesirable in that the pie'cut orcakecut will oftentimes iad;

rest of y theobjects within the lunch box. How-- ever, this-is a ratherineffectiveV method or"l protecting the fragilecake and pie-cuts, sinceit-y is predicated: upon the assumptionthat thelunch l kit will remainin ajfhorizontal positionl at alll timesand that no-accelera-tion,negative' or positive, or up-ending ,movement thereof will Occur.

Quite' frequently', such isi-'not the case, andfivhe'n the* carrier oftheY lunch box opens-,same to remove the lunch, he iinds the cake andpiecuts in a:v crushed and quite `unappetiz-ingconditioni- Gen'erallyspeaking, theapparatus of the present invention: comprises a hollo-wfood container of virtually sectorl shape in plan viewA and of a sizesuch as to comfortably rencompass the-usual si'Zesector-shaped cake orpiecut. The container is;` off relatively rigid,selif-sustaining..construeq arranged to form a sealed closure around thethe hollow container and spacedfromV the bcttord thereof,.whereby twosector-shaped cuts of* caire or pie may be carried within thecontainer.'

It canY be seen from the abovegeneral description that the presentinvention completely solves the hereinabove-mentioned problems, since acake or'pie cut, or in the modified form, two'cuts, may be electivelyprotected from crushing and also sealed so as to prevent any juiceescaping into the lunch box. Furthermore, there isno tendency for thecake or pie'cuts to adhere-to thecontainer in the hereinabove-mentioned`manner.

With the above points in mind, it is an object of the present inventionto provide a relatively rigid hollow food container arranged for use`within a lunch box and of a shape such astev conveniently encompass acake or pie` cutiand'v protect same from being crushed. l

It is a further object of the presentv invention to provide a relativelyrigid hollow food container arranged for use within a lunch box and or"a,

shape suchvas to conveniently encompass acake or pie cut and protectsame from being crushedby other objects within a lunch kit' and arrangedto form a sealed closure around the cakeorpie cut for preventing theescape of liquid from; Within the container into the rest of-thev lunchVbox. v

It is a further object of the present invention to providea relativelyrigid hollow food container provided with a tray spaced from the bottomthereof and so arranged that two sector-shaped bakery food' cuts maysimultaneously be Acarried within the container and protected frombeing' crushed.

It is a further object of the present` invention toprovide a relativelyrigid hollow food container provided with a trayY spaced from the bottomthereof and so arranged that twoVsector-shaped' bakery food cuts maysimultaneously be carried within the container and protected from beingcrushed by other objects within a lunch box and cake or pie cut forpreventing the escape of' liquid from within the container into the restof: the lunch box.

Other and allied objects will become apparent to those skilled in theart upon a careful exami nation, `study and perusal of the specication,

' HMSHLOHS and appended claim. To facilitate understanding, referencewill be had to the following drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one illustrative embodiment of thepresent invention.

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment illustrated inFig. 1 with the container open.

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevational view taken in the direction of thearrows III-III shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevational View of a slightly modified form ofthe present invention viewed from the same aspect as Fig. 3.

More specifically, referring to the first illustrative embodiment of myinvention shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a rigid, virtually sector-shaped,hollow container is indicated generally at I and includes a relativelyrigid hollow container body member 2 `which is of sector shape in planview and which includes a sector-shaped bottom wall 3 and an upstandingedgewall d, which in the example illustrated is continuous and integralwith the bottom 3.

Also forming a part of the container l is a top" closure member 5arranged to cooperate with the hollow bottom member 2. In the exampleillustrated, the top closure member 5 is provided with Numerousmodifications and variations of the present invention will occur tothose skilled in the art and are intended to be included andcomprehended herein. For example, we find it desirable in certaininstances to dispense with the tray entirely and to provide ourinvention in a form suitable for carrying a single cut of cake or pie.Also, the means for fastening the closure member and the body member maybe modied or dispensed with entirely, if desired. In addition, thehinged means may be dispensed with a downwardly directed edge wall 6,which is continuous and integral with a transverse top wall '6a of theclosure member 5. It should be noted that the closure member 5 is alsoof sector shape in plan form.

In the first embodiment of the present invention illustrated in Figs. l,2 and 3, a removable insert tray 'l is provided and comprises a base 8,an upstanding edge wall 9 continuous and integral with the base 8 anddownwardly directed supporting feet I0 arranged to contact the upperside of the bottom wall 3 of the body member 2 in order to maintain theinsert tray 1 in a position spaced above and Virtually parallel to thebottom Wall 3, whereby a sector-shaped cut of cake or pie may bepositioned on the bottom wall 3 of the body member 2 below the inserttray 'I and a second sector-shaped cut of cake or pie may be carried bythe tray In the example illustrated, a manually accessible removinghandle I l is connected to the tray 1 for facilitating removal of thetray from the container and for insertion of the tray into thecontainer. In the example illustrated, closure member 5 is provided witha releasable fastening means l2 adapted to fasten the closure member 5with respect to the body member 2 when desired, and may be of anysuitable type. Also shown in the example illustrated is hinge means I3connecting the closure member 5 and the body member Z. A rigid `strapIll is shown carried by the closure member 5 in the example illustratedand is adapted to frictionally retain knife, fork or spoon, if desired.

A slightly modified form of the present invention is shown in Fig. fl,wherein the edges of the tray 1 rest upon inwardly directed shoulders IBformed in the upstanding edge wall 4 of the body 2. The bottom of thedownwardly directed edge wall 6 of the top closure member 5 Valso isadapted to snap fit over outwardly directed fastening lip at the uppertop of upwardly directed edge wall 4 and form a sealing engagementtherewith. In other respects, the modied form of thel invention shown inFig. 4 is quite similar to that as shown at Figs. l, 2 and 3 andcorresponding primed reference numerals indicate correspond.` ing parts.

i be interpreted in the light of the prior art 'and other suitable meansemployed in lieu thereof or the closure member may be removable alongthe entire edge wall and may be adapted to cooperate with the edge wallof the body member in various ways for fastening same. For example, theymight resiliently engage or frictionally engage one another. Also, theedge walls of the top closure member may fit within the edge walls ofthe body member, if desired, or the edge walls of the closure member mayt on the outside'of the edge walls of the body member, if desired.'Also, a sealing lip, either inwardly or outwardly directed, may beprovided, and it may be desirable under some circumstances to introducesuitable gasketing material for effecting a good seal. I

The closure member need not be provided withv a downwardly directed edgewall as illustrated but may be a ilat top closure member merely closingthe top of the upwardly directed edge wall of the body member or the topclosure mem-- ber maybe provided with a relatively long, downwardlydirected edge wall, and the body member may be merely a flat bottomadapted to effectively engage the downwardly directed edge wallf of thetop closure member.

The handle means carried by the tray may bel modied within wide limitsor'dispensed with entirely if desired, as may the knife, fork andspoon-retaining strap illustrated. Y

It should also be noted that the invention is' primarily, though notnecessarily, intended to be molded of plastic, pressed metal or variousother' suitable material, and the configuration thereof' may Varyconsiderably from that illustrated'Y herein. For example, the variouscorners of the container will have suitable radii determined by moldingpractice and thus will depart somewhat from truer sector plan form.andall such varia-- tions are intended to be included herein.

The examples described and illustrated herein are exemplary only and arenot intended to limit the scope of the present invention, which is to"and the appended claim only.

We claim:

A hollow food container adapted for use within a lunch-box and arrangedto sealably carry and protect from crushing virtually sector-shaped cutsof cake and pie, comprising: a pair of relatively rigid hollow bodymembers, each virtually sector-shaped in plan View and each providedwith a bottom wall and a continuous connected upstanding side wallsintegral with the bottom; means hingedly connecting the marginal edge ofone wall with the marginal edge of a wall of the other body memberwhereby said body members are in adjacent relation when the container isopen and the edges of said upstanding walls are in abutting relationwhen the container is closed; a removable tray including a platform, aliftingI lip and feet positioned in one of the body members, said feetresting on the bottom wall of said body member to support theY platform,said lip'l extending upwardly into proximity with the bottorn Wall ofthe other body member when the container is in closed position toprevent the tray from shifting; and releasable latch means adapted tohold the container in closed position with edges of the walls inabutting relation.

EDRA MAE BROOKS. VICTORIA A. J EFFRIES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

Number 10 Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Boniface 1 Jan. 28,1902 White Feb. 19, 1918 Rotzell July 14, 1925 Bailey Aug. 24, 1926Reyburn Nov. 6, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France July 20, 1911

